Search - Renaissance :: Live at the Carnegie Hall (Dig)

A band and singer in sure need of reappraisal

mianfei | 09/27/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is strange how artists previously reviled can become rehabilitated posthumously. Ever since Laura Nyro died from ovarian cancer in 1997, interest in her work has been higher than it was whilst she was alive. Though Nyro's work was too virtuosic and complex to be a favourite with most critics, since her death her late-1960s masterpieces have been re-appraised and are now often viewed as underrated classics.



Around the time of Nyro's overian cancer, Annie Haslam, the frontwoman of Renaissance, suffered breast cancer but recovered so well she still performs in her mid-sixties today. Listening for the first time to Renaissance as a 31-year-old too young to read about them when they were in their prime, it is really startling that their work has not has the same re-evaluation Nyro's classic albums have.



Today, Renaissance are seen as one of the major players in the reviled progressive rock scene of bands like Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis, Gentle Giant and Camel. In fact, although Renaissance did possess the same type of lengthy multi-part suites that are considered a defining feature of prog rock, Renaissance's sound was completely different from the hard rock of Gabriel-era Genesis or the heavily synthesised sounds of 1970s Pink Floyd or Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Both of these types of music were in general very boring. Some of Steve Hackett's solos, for instance, are incredibly long compared to what is expressed in them.



Instead of trying to make rock more complex by adding large numbers of solos, Renaissance started from the basis of simple piano or less often acoustic guitar and added orchestras that blend completely with the rhythm section of bassist Jon Camp and drummer Terence Sullivan. Often the piano reminds one of Tori Amos on her early albums, but despite the absence of Amos' deeply personal tales of alienation, Renaissance actually sounded darker than Tori did, and Betty Thatcher's mysteriously poetic lyrics fit the mood perfectly.



On "Running Hard", for instance, the band combines complex piano lines wiht a simple marching drumbeat to create an extremely dark atmosphere over with Annie Haslam's amazingly simple and pure soprano functions as a true instrument in a way rare amongst rock singers. Because Haslam, unlike most singers in classical music, sings so spontaneously and does not try to push her voice into anything except a perfectly natural direction, she comes off sounding so much better. The way Haslam can use her voice to sing wordlessly on the opener "Prologue" is one of the most stunning feats in the history of recorded singing.



The only short track on "Live at Carnegie Hall", "Carpet of the Sun", still seems much longer than it is because of the desnity of the strings and piano work, but the remarkably soft sound possesses surprising power and can move any aware listener to tears like no other record. The "Arabian Nights" adaptation "Schnerezade" and the dark tale of a person drowning without anyone to rescue him "Ocean Gypsy" are mellower still and possess a beauty nobody has ever matched. "Mother Russia", a tribute to recently deceased author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and based on his One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is even better because it adds a sense of drama to the quiet passion of the rest of the album. The lyrics may not be quite as despairing as Brendan Perry, but they are enough to make anybody cry. Moreover, when the band focuses on Dunford's acoustic guitar it adds a whole new tone to the music.



All in all, "Live at Carnegie Hall" is a unique work of beautiful, soft, poetic passion that seems to mix rock's power and spontaneity with all the best possible elements of music from the pre-rock era. The tone may not be nearly so intense as late Talk Talk or Godspeed You Black Emperor, but it is equally dark and Haslam's plain, powerfull, bell-like voice is an absolute treat. The live environment, unlike most live recordings, actually makes "Live at Carnegie Hall" quite noticeably softer than the studio versions of all songs included.



If music writers can (deservedly) rehabilitate Laura Nyro, they ought to be able to give Annie Haslam, Betty Thatcher and Renaissance the same treatment. Fans of Kate Bush, Tori Amos and Dead Can Dance will see the roots of their favourite artists' work - even if those musicians never heard these songs."